Fastening device



Aug. 7, 1934. I w. J. MORRIS FASTENING DEVICE Filed March 8. 19,33

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p t d Aug 7,1934 s a s v 1,969,026

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FASTENING DEVICE 1 William J. Morris, Oenterville Station, 111. Application March a, 1933, Serial No. 659,995

"4 Claims. (01. res-132 My invention relates to improvementsin' fastensive is so constructed as tobe particularly adapting. and gripping devices for use in holding and ed Ior supporting and holding a clothes line and supporting lines, ropes and wires such as clothes comprises a bracket'or base 1 of flat and reclines, tow ropes, guywires and the like. i tangular form cast or otherwise made up of any I The main'object of the invention is td provide suitable metal and having .ap'ertures- 2 near its a device of this nature which will have a. positive ends through which screws (not shown) may be gripping and holding action on a line or any kind placed to secure the bracket to a post, wall or and of any size within the range of the device and other support (also not shown). In its intended irifwhichthe gripping action isjprovided by and position the bracket is disposed vertically on the 10 increases directly as the strainon the line'when support inthe position shown in the, drawing drawntautthrough the device. p 1 but for other uses and in other installations this Anuther bj ct is to provide a holding and portion will vary as will be described hereinafter. pp d vice'which willsecure and hold the line An outstanding mounting ear 3 is forr'nedon the at the ends or any intermediate point with equal bracket medially along one side 4 thereof and is 15 facility, the latter arrangementvbeing such that p d with a ful um v t ap rtu 5 sp d twp Q1 m r bra ch are provided in a, sin l outwardly from the front face 6 of said bracket.

'line without cutting and each branch is gripped A 1 el 0 do 7 iS Provided and ha a .andheld entirely independent of the other. flat pp face 8 t One-end a at e P- th object is t provide device 1 t posite endis laterally widened at 9 andforked kind comprising simply a base or bracket having to Provide cleft 10 defined y the p p 7 an outstanding ear, a clamping lever ful m d allel fingers 11, the lever being relatively thick onthis ear and roughened or toothed at one end adjacent pp face 3 d p n m "to register withand engageasimilarly roughened this point toward each end as clearly evident portionof the base, the other end of the lever n Figure 1 whereby the fulcr riv p r ure :5 being forked t receive t i or rope which is 12 provided adjacent this thickest part does not 80 threaded through this Iork down between the materially weaken the s u tu ippin e -a base and'gripped or h l t n t face 8 is disposed or extends at an angle to the roughened portions thereof, there being also a P face of the toe 15 at Opposite ends, The lineguide formed on the base in position to 'just clamping lever is fulcmmed on the ou tin 30. clear the roughened or gripping end of the lever .9913 Over the bracket 1 y means O a rivet vand. adapted to guide and hold the l in proper or similar element 13 with the gripping face 8 positipn V t V I 1 r turned toward the bracket and with the forked. 9 if .w t t other objects View t end of the lever uppermost. The location ol'the invention resideslin the novelfconstruction and fulcrum 13 1501 the level is such that the pp as arrangement of parts as hereinafter et forked end Of the lever overbalances lower forth and claimed, reference being had to the end and the level u normally and by force accompanying drawing wh i of gravity assumes the angular and outwardly I Figure l is a of device and upwardly position shown. The rivet end of aline secured therein, theposition in which 13 is also Spaced Outward from the face of the 0 clamp lever rests when the line is being bracket a distance Sumcient the heel OI threaded through the device being V shown in the lever at the upper end of the gripping face ed lines 1 j i 8 rests alsubstantial distance clear of the brack- Figure 2 is a perspectiveiview showing the line et while the toe 15 rests in engagement theregripped "intermediate t ends the t with. When the lever 7 is swung. inward at its 45 branches thus formed threaded through the upper end to the Position Shown in d tted lines forked. end of t clamp 1 in Figure 1 for apurpose to be described, the heel Figure 3 is 9, m, e of t v 14 will rest at yet a greater distance from the Figure; is a perspective view of theroughen'ed bracket. As the upper end of the lever is swung gripping end of t clamp l v inward toward the bracket the widened end 9 is 50. Figure} is a fragmentary side view of a modiadapted to strike a shoulderor narrow upward fem of thedevice s particularly suitable f r extension 16 of the ear 3 and limit this moveuse in gripping an automobile t rope and pro.. ment to the point that a space is left between vided with an anti-rattler spring for th cldmp the lever and bracket for threading the line or arm. a rope as will be set forth. A boss 1'7 is provided 65 The device as shown in Figures 1 to 4 inolu- .011 the side of the lever to space it from the ear 3 and facilitate the free swinging movement of the lever on the-rivet 13.

From the heel 14 to the toe 15 the lever 7 has grooves 18 cut laterally across its gripping face 8 whereby ribs or teeth 19 are formed and similar complementary grooves 20 and teeth 21 are provided in the face of the bracket 1 alongside the ear 3 in position to register with those on the lever, the said teeth or corrugations thus formed being relatively blunt as shown in order to prevent unnecessary wear and laceration of a line gripped between these teeth.

A line guide 22 is formed on, and preferably integrally with, the bracket at a point adjacent the lower end of the series of gripping teeth 21 thereon and includes a vertically extended outstanding rib 23 so located as to just clear the lower gripping end of the clamp lever 7 when the same swings toward the bracket. The said rib 23 also extends downward considerably below the lower extremity of the lever '7 and is arcuately grooved on its lower end and outer side as indicated at 24 and 25. The rib 23 may be reinforced and braced by a short inwardly extended branch 26.

In use to grip the end of a line such as a clothes line indicated at A in Figure 1 the upper forked end of the clamp lever 7 is swung inward toward the bracket and the end of the line is then placed in the cleft 10 and swung or pulled down around the side of the lever until it slips betweenthis lever and the bracket 1 with the end passing out from beneath this bracket between the mounting ear 3 and the line guide 22. The depending end of the line is then pulled downward and the line from that point outward becoming taut exerts an outward strain or pull on the upper end of the clamp lever 7 swinging the gripping face 8 thereof toward the bracket and causing the line to be gripped and securely held between the teeth 19 and 21 as will be readily understood. This action of threading the line through the cleft 10 and down behind the lever '1 between the ear 3 and guide 22 is readily performed with one hand as is the necessary stretching and pulling to tighten the line. The line guide 22 holds the lower end of the line in proper position between the teeth 19 and 21 and cooperating with the guide for this purpose is a reduced downward extension 27 on the ear 3 similar to the aforesaid extension 16. The free end as designated at A depending from the bracket may, if it is long enough, be drawn back up around the guide 22 and threaded or passed back out through the cleft 10 as shown in Figure 2 thus forming two branches in the same line. This arrangement is particularly useful where a number of relatively short stretches or branches is required in a single long line, the line being secured at one end and then placed andv secured intermediate its ends in any desired number of devices. Each branch as represented at A and A in Figure 2 is securely held-independent of the other and should one branch become loosened or break the other will yet remain in a taut condition. It will be evident that the strength or intensity of the gripping action exerted on the line is caused by and directly proportional to the strain exerted on the line away from the fastener and therefore the line is positively held against slipping under any strain. Also it will be evident that a line of any size from a small string or cord up to a rope or cable of diameter just passing between the heel 14 and bracket 1 will be secured and fastened with equal facility. To

release the line it is only necessary to force the upper end of the clamp arm back a short distance to release the line between the teeth 19 and 21 after which slack is provided and the line may be flipped readily out of the fastener.

The strength of the grip obtained on the line together with the ease by which the line is threaded and released renders the device suitable for other purposes as for instance for attaching a tow rope to an automobile. For this use as shown in Figure 5 the bracket 1a and clamping lever 7a are made considerably stronger and the lever is held outward at its upper end to its normal position by a torsional coil spring 28 secured at its ends 29 and 30 adjacent the upper ends of the lever and bracket, this spring acting to prevent noise or rattling of the lever. The bracket la is secured to the automobile at any desired point and the tow rope (not shown) is threaded and fastened therein in manner similar to that hereinbefore described. Besides the use above enumerated the device has an almost endless number of, applications among which are its use as a clamp for stretching fence wire, as a splice or connector for wires or lines of any kind and, properly insulated, for holding the ends of a radio antenna or the like. A further use is for securing the ends of tent guys or other guy wires in which case the device would be inverted and securedto a stake or the bracket extended at one end and sharpened to drive in the ground and act as .a stake in itself.

It is thought that further details of the utility and advantages of the device will be apparent without description at this point and while I have herein set forth a certain preferred assembly or embodiment of my invention it is understood that I may vary therefrom in minor details so as best to construct a practical device for the p ses intended, not departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a device of the kind described, a bracket, an outstanding mounting ear along one side of the bracket, an' elongated line clamping lever eccentrically fulcrumed on the mounting ear and over the bracket, the upper end of the lever being adapted to overbalance the lower end and swing outward from the bracket, the said upper end of the lever being widened and forked to provide a line receiving cleft, the lower end of the lever having a fiat line gripping face extended at an angle to the plane of the forked end and adapted to engage the face of the bracket alongside the mounting ear, the line gripping face of the lever and adjacent face of the bracket having line gripping corrugations, and an outstanding line guide formed on the bracket adjacent and alongside the position assumed by the lower end of the lever as it rests against the bracket.

2. In a device of the kind described, a bracket, a mounting ear on the bracket, an elongated line clamping lever eccentrically fulcrumed on the bracket and adapted at its upper end to hang outward from the bracket and having a flat gripping face at its lower end adapted to engage the bracket, the intermediate portion of the lever being spaced away from the bracket to receive a line threaded between the lever and bracket through the open side opposite the mounting ear, and the said mounting ear being extended downwardly alongside the lower line gripping end of the lever.-

3. In a device of the kind described, a bracket,

a mounting ear on the bracket, 9. line gripping mally the bracket, the. said mounting ear being elongated and extended downward alongside this line gripping end of the lever, and a line guide formed on the bracket adjacent the lower end of the lever and extended upward along the side thereof remote from the mounting ear, the aid line guide also being extended laterally across the lower end of the lever and downward below the lever along the bracket and being grooved on its lower and outer ends.

WIILIAM J. MORRIS.

Ill 

